Apricot Almond Thumbprint Cookies

I am starting to realize that many of my cooking endeavors in this blog begin with a reference to my mom, but only because she’s the only person in my family willing to talk about food all the time. With this preface, I will begin this entry with another anecdote.

At T.J.Maxx the other day, my mom insisted we buy a package of apricot almond thumbprint cookies. I strategically convinced her that these cookies would be much more delicious straight from the oven at tea-time. Having never made almond cookies before (I only recently developed a mild liking for nuts), I was happily surprised with my results. The cookies were melt-in-your-mouth good, with both apricot and peach preserves. I really liked the texture of the almonds, but if you prefer smoother cookies, you can add an extra half cup of flour in place of the almonds!

We were a bit low on apricot preserves, so I heated up what we had with more water and dried apricots on the stove until I had a fragrant and fresh batch of apricot preserves ready for the cookies 🙂

Yield: 2 dozen

3/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup white sugar
2 egg yolks
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 1/4 cup flour
1/2 cup almonds ground in food processor (I used about two handfuls, but honestly didn’t measure)

1/2 cup apricot preserves (any fruit will work)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Cream together the butter, white sugar, egg yolks and almond extract. I first creamed the butter, sugar, and extract, and then gently mixed in the egg yolks. Mix in flour slowly until a soft dough forms. Roll dough into 1 inch balls, or simply scoop dough out using a cookie scoop like I did!

Place balls 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets. Use your finger or an instrument of similar size to make a well in the center of each cookie. Fill the hole with ~1/2 teaspoon of preserves of your choice. I would also love to try these cookies with lemon curd.

I baked the cookies for ~8 minutes, when they were golden brown on the bottom. I almost immediately put the cookies on a cooling rack so they wouldn’t get soggy at the bottom.

… Like eating half of two cookies is any better than eating one whole cookie. 😉

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